With the sale of over 250 city buses in the second half of last year, Mercedes-Benz/Brazil and Allison Transmission have significantly increased their presence in Indonesia, one of the main countries in Southeast Asia with one of the highest populations in the world.

Approximately half of the transmissions were delivered last November and are expected to start operating by May this year. The OH 1626 model equipped with an Allison T280R fully automatic transmission is one of the favourites for the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system and feeder lines in the capital city of Jakarta. The T Series models are specific for city passenger buses.

“The partnership between Mercedes-Benz and Allison was fundamental for us to be able to meet our customers' demand in Indonesia. We have some projects together where the result has been very positive for us,” said Alexandre Lasmar, Mercedes-Benz Sales and Exports Manager for the Middle East and North Africa. "The buses that we are selling with Allison transmissions bring excellent results such as comfort and safety for drivers and passengers, and low maintenance for vehicles."

The OH 1626 buses are equipped with Allison's fully automatic six-speed transmissions with retarder that features FuelSense 2.0 technology, to further reduce the vehicle's fuel consumption. FuelSense 2.0 is ideal for urban applications with a lot of stop-and-go, such as city buses, residue collection, construction and distribution.

Through a series of optimisations introduced in Allison's software, the new FuelSense 2.0 technology uses the DynActive Shifting system for an infinite number of shift point combinations. FuelSense 2.0 uses a real-time learning algorithm that determines the optimal balance between fuel economy and performance.

“This is a very significant sale for Allison,” said Evaldo Oliveira, Director of Allison Transmission, South America. “As an extremely populated country, Indonesia has a broad and very efficient public transport service. The total bus market in the Asian country approaches 2,500 units a year, which shows us that we still have great possibilities to expand our business with Jakarta, mainly in partnership with Mercedes-Benz/Brazil, which is the sales leader in this market.”